Al Wasl chairman Marwan bin Bayat has admitted the club's ambitious bid to lure Didier Drogba to the UAE is doomed to failure as he believes the Ivorian is closing in on a move to China.

Wasl hit the headlines last week after confirming they were preparing a "serious" bid to entice the 34-year-old to the Zabeel Stadium following his exit from Chelsea.

Boss Diego Maradona described the prospect of Drogba's arrival as a "dream", although in reality he conceded the chances were slim given the lucrative offers the Ivorian has from other clubs.

One of those is Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua who are willing to make Drogba the world's highest paid footballer on wages in excess of £300,000-a-week in a bid to convince him to head for the Far East.

Bin Bayat has now confirmed the club did submit an offer to Drogba, who spent eight years with Chelsea, but that it is likely he will link up with former team-mate Nicolas Anelka in Shanghai.

Speaking after Wasl's 3-1 win over Al Muharraq in the first leg of their GCC CHampions League final, Bin Bayat said: “We were one of the teams involved in the bid for Drogba indeed but it doesn’t look like he will come to the Gulf and his eyes are on China.”

Meanwhile, Bin Bayat believes lifting the GCC Champions League could be a springboard to further success under Maradona with Cheetahs look odds-on to win the Gulf competition after their first leg in Bahrain on Tuesday.

The second leg is at the Zabeel Stadium on Sunday, and with Wasl in a commanding position, their chairman insists the silverware would cap a “great” season. “Bringing Maradona was a very successful deal for us and he did great in his debut season,” said Bin Bayat. “Hopefully we will win this title with him and many more to come next year.”